Chains || Piper McLean

Chapter One

Piper

Piper woke up in the Aphrodite cabin, shivering and gasping for breath. Images of her nightmares flashed quickly before her eyes: Leo blasting Gaea as a ball of fire. Her dad tied up and struggling to breathe. Jason crying out as the evil demigod Michael stabbed him from behind.

She shook her head. These were all a long time ago. Leo was back at camp, alive and well with his girlfriend Calypso. Her dad was as normal as ever, starring in movies and calling Piper whenever he could. Jason's wound had healed months ago, and he had never had another fatal injury afterwards. Everything was okay.

But she winced as she thought of those scenes, over and over. She just couldn't seem to shake them away no matter how hard she tried. She needed some fresh air.

Quietly, she climbed out of her bunk and tiptoed quietly through the cabin. The campers were sleeping soundly, except for the occasional scream or shriek from a demigod with nightmares. That was normal; if you were a demigod, gruesome nightmares were part of the package deal.

Once outside in the clearing, she sprinted into the woods. There she found some satyrs, nymphs, and harpies. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Ella, the harpy her, Jason, and Leo had befriended on her first quest. Piper grinned.

"Ella!" she exclaimed. "What are you doing out here in the woods?"

Ella flew down to meet her, bobbing up and down and flitting nervously from place to place. "Tyson. Tyson. Looking around for Tyson. Have you seen Tyson? Ella likes Tyson."

Piper recalled seeing him earlier by the lake. "I think I saw him by the lake, Ella."

Ella let out a squeal of delight. "Thank you Piper! Ella thanks Piper. Ella goes to see Tyson."

And with that she flew out of sight in the blink of an eye. Piper swore she could have been hallucinating, that seemed to be too fast for a harpy. But then again, Ella was always going places.

Piper continued to walk onward, inviting the floral smells of nature and the rustling of the leaves. She could hear tree nymphs singing slow songs, while all of the animals slept.

It was a little while later that Piper came across a river. She stared into it at her reflection. The girl in the river definitely would not resemble a child of Aphrodite. She had choppy hair, a sweatshirts with baggy pants on, and no makeup whatsoever. But Piper didn't mind; she relished feeling like free instead of dolling herself up.

But then the image changed. Piper became disheveled; her sweatshirt turned into a worn-out black t-shirt with dark blue jeans. Her hair looked unkempt as if it hadn't been brushed for days. Two small bags appeared underneath her eyes. Her kaleidoscope-colored eyes turned into two dark storms.

She jumped back. This wasn't her! What was that supposed to mean? Was that her in the future? What was going to happen?

Piper wanted to run away, but she couldn't. She stared in horror at the girl who stared back at her. She looked exhausted and worn-out. When was the last time she slept? What had happened to her to make her look this way?

She shivered. Images began to flicker across her mind once more. Her dad chained and dying. Jason a sword through his back. Annabeth and Percy unmoving in front of the Doors of Death. Leo blasting himself towards the very heart of Gaea.

But it wasn't just the memories of her demigod life that haunted her. It was other memories too. Everyone crowding around her, constantly asking about her dad. People who whispered about her behind her back, talking about how she was "ugly" or "weird" or "fat." And finally, when she was on the bus for the Wilderness School and Jason not knowing who she was.

Piper broke down sobbing. She couldn't help herself; she didn't know it, but she was traumatized. Everything was fine now, but she couldn't let go of her past. What if anything bad ever happened again? How would she be able to cope with it?

It was then that she realized she was exhausted, too tired to return to her cabin. So she decided to lay down, her breaths becoming ragged. Finally she went into a troubled sleep, getting a last glance of her reflection before everything went black.

Then the next morning she woke up groggily. Sitting up, she stared at her surroundings. Where was the Aphrodite cabin? Why wasn't she in her bunk? Then it hit her; she had wandered off into the woods to get away from the misery. And in turn, she saw a future that was so painful she couldn't bear it.

Lonely and defeated, she stayed by the river's edge. Voices seem to chant inside of her head as she gazed into the water. These voices were full of hatred, disapproval, sadness, and self-loathing. Piper longed for the day she could shut all of them out.

But sadly, that day had been a long time ago. Before her father was swarmed by the paparazzi. Before she had learned that she was a demigod, a child of Aphrodite. Before she had seen Gaea's plan kill and hurt so many innocent people.

She got up and walked around, unsure of where she was going. Piper just knew she had to cherish these silent moments, before everyone at camp realized she was missing.

All she needed was to be comforted and loved. And she was. But she needed more than that. To tell the others what was wrong, especially Jason. She could get through this.

But how could she explain it when it could cause so much destruction?